Complex and valuable digital system designs are implemented in integrated circuits chips (ICs). These ICs include application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). PLDs are becoming more prevalent than their counter-part high-end ASICs, as they provide a more cost-effective user-customizable device design. However, the method for operating these ICs (PLDs) results in compromising the valuable proprietary (intellectual property or IP) information associated with the design of the IC. This is due to the fact that the on-chip memory of the IC is usually random access memory based (RAM-based). The RAM-based on-chip memory content of the IC is volatile and is wiped out every time the IC is powered down. As a result, every time the IC is powered back on, the design data is read-in to the IC in the form of configuration bit stream. The configuration bit stream is used to initialize and configure the IC during an initial programming phase. The configuration bit stream includes memory initialization data placed at predictable locations within the bit stream. This configuration bit stream can be easily duplicated (cloned) or reverse-engineered during the read-in phase or the programming phase of the IC.
The configuration bit-stream containing the design data of the IC, including the memory initialization data, is exposed at a board level on which the IC is embedded, for potential duplication during the programming of the IC. Transferring of the configuration bit stream from an accompanying on-board memory to the IC can lead to acquiring the design data of the IP and eventually cloning the design. As the configuration bit streams hold memory initialization data in predictable locations, the design data can be acquired by extracting bit streams from these predictable locations. A competitor may perform silicon reverse-engineering using the duplicated configuration bit stream to learn and improve on the IP.
It is in this context that embodiments of the invention arise.